Recipe for Disaster
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "What the fuck!" Blackburn demanded, glaring at me. "I should be the one saying that!" I insisted. "Because of your idiotic dare, this fool's only gone and taken a love potion."
1. Recipe for Disaster

With N.E.W.T.s approaching ever quickly, the Professors were cracking the whip – or maybe that was just Snape. The little tests he kept insisting we needed to go through were making me rethink taking N.E.W.T. level potions. But it was too late; I was already a seventh year. I only needed to suffer through his classes for a few months and then I'd never have to look at a potion brewing cauldron again.

If only these months would speed by quicker than they were.

Helga, at the start of the lesson alone Snape had us line up at the front of the class as if we were bloody first years again. The man then proceeded to sit us in new seats and maybe he had the ability to read minds because the other person he'd seated on my table was bound to have my grades slipping. I'd bet my right hand that the greasy git had done it on purpose so I'd get distracted and my grades would suffer. The snake had it out for me, ever since he'd heard me complaining about him in my first year. His grudge had lasted all the way to my seventh year and I wondered just what kind of professor kept grudges for so long?

Cedric bloody Diggory was sitting across from me on the square table acting as if he wasn't enough to distract a girl from her work. And why the hell had he seen the need to shrug out of his robes the moment he'd been assigned his seat? No one's shirt was supposed to fit them so well! Not only that but the ridiculous man saw the need to roll the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows and well – let it be known that the years of quidditch playing had done wonderous things to his arm muscles.

And because I possessed all the bad luck in the world, he'd caught me in my staring, pausing halfway through rolling his sleeves up. I hurried to look away, pulling my ink well and quill from my bag.

"I'm not bothering you am I, England?"

When I looked up at him there was that typical cheeky smile on his face, though this one was understandably a little more hesitant. In all out seven years in the same school, the same house, we hadn't ever been seated together.

I shook my head, assuring him quietly, "No problem." Apart from the fact you're illegally good looking.

And before he could say another word, Snape was walking around the classroom and disturbing recipes to each of the students. Before he returned to his desk, he reminded us that there was no point in attempting to copy our desk mates as we'd all been assigned different recipes – any of which we could be tested on during the exam.

I accepted the recipe Snape had settled beside my cauldron, realising it was for a love potion. One that was rather complicated to brew as well. If Snape had given me such a difficult one on purpose –

Dismissing the thought, I turned my flame on and cast a glance across the table to see that Diggory was still busy reading his recipe. Helga, this wasn't the time to be distracted. Regardless of how pretty that distraction was.

Leaving my desk to get the necessary ingredients, I followed the recipe word for word. The last thing I wanted to do was mess this potion up and make Snape's plan work. I was _sure_ he was trying to mess with me to make me fail. Realising that I'd forgotten to get the pearl dust, I walked quickly back to the ingredient's rack, aware that my potion was bubbling away. And I would have hurried back to my table had someone not settled beside me, putting a hand on mine as I grasped the bottle of pearl dust.

I looked up, meeting grey eyes and paused. Merlin, it was unfair that he had such beautiful eyes. Retracting my hand from beneath his, I cleared my throat and asked, "Did you need the pearl dust?"

He shook his head, pulling his own hand back with a smile. "I actually needed to talk to you, England."

"Talk to me?" I repeated, grabbing the pearl dust and hurrying back to my table. I didn't want to wreck my potion just because he wanted to talk to me. He followed behind me and I asked hesitantly, "What about?"

"See, I accepted this dare," he confessed once we'd both returned to our shared table.

As I poured the correct amount of pearl dust into my cauldron, I raised an eyebrow. "A dare? The dares you and your friends come up with are legendary in the Hufflepuff basement? What is it this time? The last one almost burnt the common room down."

"I almost lost the head boy position for that one," he remembered, stirring his own potion. "Luckily I put the fire out before it could cause too much damage."

I shook my head, fighting an affectionate smile. "So? The dare?"

"It was all completely Blackburn's idea –"

"Isn't it always," I muttered, stirring the potion clockwise four times.

"Exactly," he said with a grin. "Anyway, he dared me to drink a vial of whatever potion my desk partner had been assigned."

My hand stilled, halting halfway through the motion before remembering to carry on. I looked at him from over the top of my steaming cauldron. He was watching me with expectant eyes.

 ** _"No!"_** I hissed, trying to stress how important it was that he listen to me. "No! Don't even think about it."

He was already pouring his potion into a vial as he asked, "So you'd rather I lose the dare than drink some of your potion?"

" _Yes!"_

He made a face, grumbling under his breath and turned back to his now full vial. Placing the stopper in the bottle, he wrote his name on a piece of paper as I went to retrieve an empty potion's vial. When I returned to the table, I almost dropped the vial only to catch it moments later. I'd caught him in the act of ladling out a portion of my potion and before I could stop him, he tipped its contents down his throat.

"Diggory," I groaned, hurrying to his side. "What in Merlin's name are you playing at? It's a bloody love potion!"

But it was of no use. His eyes were already glazing over as the potion took effect and from over his shoulder I could see bloody Blackburn chuckling away because Diggory had gone through with the dare. Stupid idiot – he had no idea what the potion was! And an incorrectly brewed love potion could be fatal!

Why were boys so fucking _stupid_?

"Is there a problem Miss England?"

Perfect. I screwed my eyes shut, releasing a deep breath. Just what I needed.

Looking to Professor Snape, I gave him my most innocent smile and completely ignored the way Diggory's eyes refused to leave me. "No professor, I was just bottling up some of my potion."

"Well you had better hurry along, Miss England. The lesson is coming to an end and I shan't accept any late submissions."

I made a face at Snape's back as he turned to return to his desk. Left alone with a bewitched Diggory, I eyed him apprehensively as I turned to bottle up my potion.

"Diggory," I said quietly, watching as he grinned at my addressing him. "You need to go and put your potion on Snape's desk."

"I'll be right back – don't go anywhere."

Helga! I needed to find a solution to this and quickly at that.

I finished bottling the potion up, labelled it and managed to drop it off at Snape's desk just before the bell signalling the end of the lesson rang. Reluctantly I returned to my table where Cedric was waiting for me. Without addressing him, I gathered my things and prepared to leave.

"Where are you going?" he called out as I hurried towards the door.

" _Far_ away from you."

" _England_!"

He was relentless in his chase, following closely after me as I made my towards the great hall for lunch. No matter how many times I ducked through the smallest gaps in the crowd – gaps I knew he wouldn't be able to fit through – he'd use his long legs to catch up to me within seconds. The entire hallway was gossiping about it. And if the simple chasing after me wasn't enough, he was reciting poetry – _shitty_ poetry at that, as he followed after me.

At one point I had spied a group of Ravenclaw seventh years gossiping quietly and Helga, I could _hear_ the cogs in their brain whirring as they tried to figure out what was going on. It wouldn't take them long to find out about the love potion and obviously, with no knowledge of the dare, they'd assume that I managed to feed him one. And I was _not_ going to let that happen.

I'd ducked into the girl's toilets, knowing that no matter how intoxicated he was on the potion he wouldn't follow me in. And I had been right.

I stayed in the toilet, biding my time and ignoring the curious looks I was getting from the other girls. When I was certain that I'd waited long enough, I walked back into the corridor and went happily on my way. Only to stop short when I saw Diggory waiting a little far ahead.

Merlin, what else was I supposed to do!

Spotting me, Diggory jogged the short distance towards me and I sped up slightly, keeping some space between us. Without realising it, I began to walk whilst turning my body slightly towards his just so I could keep an eye on him.

"So, you're not a fan of poetry then?" he asked from behind me. I wondered why he wasn't bothering to try and walk beside me and then realised that maybe he realised I'd run away again.

"I'm a fan of _good_ poetry," I shot back, watching as he grinned because I was finally talking to him again.

" _Ouch,_ that hurts England." He tucked his hands into his pockets, walking leisurely. "Would you like me to recite some Shakespeare for you?"

"You know muggle poetry?" I asked in surprise, coming to a stop completely.

He nodded, his grin growing cheekier. "Impressed you yet?"

"No," I murmured, turning abruptly away from him and hurrying towards the great hall.

"Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day? Thou art –"

" _Don't,_ " I warned abruptly, turning towards him and pointing my finger at him. He held his hands up in surrender, struggling not to smile. "Honestly, Diggory. Will you _please_ stop talking?"

"But I don't want to," he protested before leaning conspiratorially towards me. "And I don't think you want me to either, England."

"Stop it," I said forcefully. "Stop talking and I'll let you walk with me."

It seemed like that was enough for him. He mimicked zipping his mouth shut and happily dropping into step beside me. As we walked through the corridor, I couldn't help but watch him from the corner of my eyes. Helga, the potion sure was making him act odd. He seemed unaware of my scrutiny, walking slowly. So slowly that I got the distinct impression that he was doing it to increase the duration of our walk.

Dismissing the thought, I made a mental note to drop by the library before my next lesson. Looking away from him, I tried to remember which variety of love potion I had brewed.

"You can keep staring," he offered, looking to me with a mischievous smile that had his grey eyes lighting up. "I like having your attention on me."

Smothering my urge to blush, I narrowed my eyes at him. "I thought I said you weren't allowed to talk?"

"I never knew you were such a stickler for the rules, England." He nudged me teasingly with his shoulder. "I've lost count of the number of times I've turned a blind eye to you sneaking out past curfew. I got the impression that you didn't care so much about rules."

"You've seen me out past curfew?" I asked hesitantly.

He nodded, winking at me. "Don't worry, I'll continue to give you a free pass because you're so adorable when you think you're being sneaky."

"You're ridiculous," I scoffed, hiding how I felt my heart flutter at his words.

"Just truthful," he admitted, gesturing to the doors of the great hall which came into view.

We walked the rest of the way in silence and I kept to myself, afraid that he'd say something else which would make me fall. It was bad enough that I had a crush on him, but for the love potion to make it seem like he had one in return –

Shaking my head, I made my way to the Hufflepuff table and gestured for Cedric to take a seat beside his friends. He hesitated for a moment, wanting to see where I'd sit but complied anyway. Once he was seated, I turned to look at Blackburn who was sitting beside him and reached out to smack his head. He exclaimed in pain, rubbing the back of his head.

"What the _fuck_!" he demanded, glaring at me.

"I should be the one saying that!" I insisted. "Because of your idiotic dare, this fool's only gone and taken a love potion."

Park, sitting on Cedric's other side, snorted into his drink. And poor Lowe, he looked like his eyes were going to bug out of his head. Not that I blamed him. It _was_ very surprising news.

"Stay here Diggory," I said as I began to walk towards my own friends.

He made to rise from his seat, as if to follow after him but Park had some forethought to attempt to restrain him. Blackburn, realising what was going on, helped to keep Diggory in his seat and gestured for me to hurry away.

Walking further down the table, I settled in beside my own friends who were watching me and waiting for an explanation. Hill nudged me and I rolled my eyes.

"What's that all about?" Lowell asked and I sighed.

"It's a _really_ long story Sally," I admitted. "I'll fill you in eventually. Right now, I need to eat quickly and head to the library."

* * *

My first trip to the library had proven both useless and useful at the same time. The number of books the library contained on love potions was vast – almost worryingly so. Who knew how many students went around attempting to brew these blasted potions? But, because there was so many different types of love potions, I was unsure which book would prove to be of any worth.

I spent most of the first session creating a list of the potions ingredients I remembered in an attempt to deduce which type of love potion I'd brewed. But, because my Transfiguration lesson was soon to follow I had to leave the library quietly. The Transfiguration lesson proved worse than potions had because I shared the class with Diggory who'd decided that he _needed_ to sit next to me.

Poor Tara hadn't known how to resist those eyes when he'd walked up to her and asked in the most charming way possible, "Hill, you don't mind if I sit here today, do you?"

She didn't bother to protest and I spent the next hour-long class trying to get him to not only pay attention, but to leave me alone. I'd lost track of the number of times he'd tried to hold my hand during the lesson. After I'd slapped his hand away countless times and threatened to transfigure him into a wristwatch, he decided to stop trying to hold my hand in favour for attempting to play footsie. I gave up trying to protest because who knew what else he'd move onto doing?

After that I spent every free moment in the library, wondering why the love potion hadn't worn off yet. They were only supposed to last 24 hours – regardless of which type of love potion it was.

After managing to compile the complete list of ingredients I managed to find the right book on the potion and had taken it out from the library, ignoring the searching gaze I got from Pince. The book, one I'd had in my possession for a few days now, was full of pieces of paper on which I'd jotted down random notes and even as I walked through the corridor, I read over them to see if I would receive some revelation. But it was no use.

As I stepped into the common room, I stuffed the book into my bag and scanned the room for Tara and Sally but they were nowhere to be found. Instead, I had the misfortune of meeting grey eyes as Diggory rose to his feet. He crossed the common room towards me and I clutched the strap of my bag defensively.

"Want me to take your bags?" he offered.

"And take them where?" I asked in amusement. "If you can get through the enchantment to the girl's dorms then there must be something you want to tell me."

I was surprised to see the red splattering across his cheeks as he cleared his throat. "I didn't mean it like that." He held his hand out and I eyed it suspiciously. "Just let me hold it for a while."

"Fine," I muttered, taking my bag and shoving it towards him just to stop him from going on about it.

I had no idea what I had expected him to do with my bag but I certainly hadn't expected him to run to the other side of the common room with it. He settled down between his friends, grinning at me as if to goad me into joining him. As if that would work.

It did.

I crossed the common room quickly, planning to get my bag back from him.

"Diggory –"

"Cedric," he cut in.

" _Cedric,_ " I said forcefully, "can I have my bag back?"

"Of course you can." He grinned innocently at me, "Just sit with us for a little bit first."

" _Cedric!"_

"You mustn't want this bag," he mused, "I wonder what's inside it?"

"Fine!" I settled down beside him, instantly aware of his friends whose eyes had been watching our entire interaction closely. Shuffling a little awkwardly in my seat, I took the chance to grab my bag and settled it between the two of us.

"Stop staring," Cedric sighed, looking to each of his friends who instantly looked away.

I peeked a small glance at them, smiling slightly when I saw the way they shared a glance. Were they just as stumped about his behaviour as I was? Helga, had I permanently broken their friend? I was _so_ tempted to leave – my bag was _right there_ and he might have had seeker reflexes but if I timed it right then I'd have enough of a head start to reach the enchantment of the girl's dorm before he caught me. But how would he react to me leaving him?

A hand was settled on top of mine and I looked to him, knowing instantly that it was his. His eyes were waiting for mine and I swallowed a little nervously, pulling my hand out from beneath his.

"Stop behaving so oddly Cedric," I chastised weakly.

"How am I acting weirdly?" he protested and I watched as he moved my bag to my lap. He promptly closed the space between us and I eyed his approach cautiously. "There's something I want to tell you, I've wanted to say it for a while now –"

"I think I'm going to head to bed," I cut in, rising to my feet. His hand was on mine in an instant and I licked my bottom lip nervously. "I'm really tired, Cedric."

He reluctantly released my hand, watching as I slung my bag over my shoulder. "I'll save a space for you at breakfast?"

I didn't know how to answer him. Helga, sometimes he managed to trick me into thinking he was serious. And, after those moments when I remember that he'd consumed a love potion, it only hurt.

* * *

The following morning found me seated at the Hufflepuff table for breakfast as Tara and Sally talked besides me about something that I wasn't paying attention to. Instead I was engrossed in my book again. No matter how many books I searched in, how many research papers I read through I simply couldn't find an instance where the effects of a love potion had lasted more than 24 hours. Helga, it was almost a _week_ since Cedric had drank the bloody potion and there was still no answer. Originally, I had planned on waiting the 24 hours and letting the potion run itself through his system but then it's effects continued. And I was left without an answer. What was worse is that there seemed to be no sign of the potion wearing off anytime soon, either.

Helga's wrath, I wanted to scream in frustration as I reflected back to the number of dead ends I'd hit during my research. Maybe the reason the effects were lasting so long was because of something _I'd_ done? Had I brewed the potion incorrectly? Oh good Merlin, did I need to go and talk to Snape? He would _not_ spare me and was more likely to punish me than attempt to help Cedric.

I chewed my thumb nail absentmindedly, looking towards the teacher's table at the top of the hall. Sprout? Could I go to my head of house? But then _he'd_ get in trouble for accepting such a reckless dare. And just because last time he'd managed to retain his badge didn't mean that he'd be able to do so this time. I couldn't do that to him, not when he was clearly unable to use all of his faculties.

"Ok," Tara said suddenly, snatching my book from me to look down at the open page. "What's got you so worried?" She peered down at the page, scanned it quickly and looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Love potions?"

"I made one in potions," I confessed, rubbing my head as it began to ache. "And when I stepped away from the table Cedric drank some because of a bloody dare."

Sally was the first to recover from the shock of my words. She shook her head and hissed, "Those fucking dares keep causing so much trouble."

"Tell me about it," I muttered into my hands.

"But why did you keep this to yourself?" Tara demanded, looking down the table towards Cedric who kept sneaking glances towards me. He was pouting because I'd chosen not to sit with him for breakfast.

"I thought the effects would wear off on their own."

"But they haven't?" she guessed.

I shook my head gravely. "I think I might have seriously risked the health of our head boy; it's been almost a week since he drank it."

"But the effects of love potions only last 24 hours," Sally said, eyebrows furrowed.

"I know," I muttered, "and I've done _loads_ of research but I still can't find a reason for the effects not to have worn off yet. I'm beginning to think I didn't brew the potion correctly."

"We've all got a free period after this," Sally said after a short pause. "Why don't we all head to the library? Three heads are bound to be better than one, right?"

"I guess," I muttered, too preoccupied with the tray of toast that was steadily floating down the table towards me.

Looking further down the table towards Cedric, I found him – sure enough – with his wand out as he levitated the toast towards me. We made brief eye contact and I saw him gesture to my empty plate. When I refused to take some, the tray floated threateningly towards me and I narrowed my eyes at the head boy. He stood from his seat, threatening to approach me and I took some toast just to appease him. Only when I took a bite from the toast did he settled back into his seat.

I turned back to Tara and Sally, eyebrows rising when I saw the way the pair of them shared a look. They hesitated for a moment and I raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever it is, just say it," I said around the piece of toast.

"It's the effects of the potion," Tara began hesitantly.

"I know," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Just be careful." Tara reached out to squeeze my arm comfortingly. "I know it must be tempting to just let this keep going because you have a crush on him –"

"But that wouldn't be right," I finished for her. "I know, believe me I know. Every time I talk to him I have to remind myself that without the potion, he wouldn't even be anywhere near me. It hurts but believe me, I'm not letting myself get lost in this. I've got my head firmly screwed on."

"I'm glad," Sally said finally. "We just don't want you to get hurt."

It was a little too late for that. Even the knowledge that Cedric was looking at and talking to me in ways he never would normally hurt more than it should have. But right now, getting him back to normal was the most important thing. I could worry about my heart later.

There were more important priorities.

* * *

I'd put countless hours into researching the magical anomaly that Cedric was experiencing and there was _nothing,_ no explanation whatsoever. But I realised that there was only so much information that the school allowed us to have access to. Maybe I needed to speak to Sprout about getting a pass to the restricted section? But what would I say I needed it for? Or maybe I just needed to do what I was dreading the most and talk to Snape? Surely getting Cedric back to normal was worth the lifetimes worth of detentions I'd get in return? Helga, _he_ was the one to accept the stupid dare and yet _I_ was the one left to clean up his mess. It just wasn't fair.

Mum had always said that it was best to take some time off when I got stressed and maybe it was time I tried that? And then when I came back to the problem with a fresh mind, I might even see an aspect to this problem that I previously hadn't noticed before. Either way, I had enough time to attend _one_ quidditch match, right?

I made my way down to pitch on my own, enjoying the rare chance at peace and quiet. Tara and Sally were self-confessed groupies of the team and liked to get down to the pitch just after the team did. At least this way I always had a good seat because they remembered to save me one.

As I drew closer to the pitch, I spied Tara and Sally at the entrance of the stands and frowned a little; weren't they usually occupying the best seats? When they saw me they jogged over towards me.

"What's going on?" I asked as they drew closer, "Aren't you supposed to be wrestling with the other groupies for the best seats?"

"We were waiting for you," Sally explained, taking my arm and manoeuvring me away from the stands and towards an entrance I hadn't seen before.

"Where are you going?"

"Cedric wants to see you," Tara explained, glancing meaningfully towards me. "He was adamant on it."

"So, the potion didn't wear of overnight then," I muttered with a sigh.

"Apparently not," Tara agreed.

"Whatever happens," I started hesitantly, "you can't leave me alone with him. Not that I'm _tempted,_ I just – help me keep a rational head about this?"

"Of course," Sally agreed as they led me through the secret door and suddenly we were on the pitch where the teams were warming up.

We made a beeline for the Hufflepuff team and I was a little unsurprised to find him waiting a small distance away from the team, scanning the entrance every few seconds. The moment he saw us walk through it, he crossed the pitch and approached us. I swallowed thickly, taking a moment to gather myself once he finally stopped in front of us.

His broom slung casually over his shoulders, Cedric leaned towards me slightly as he asked, "I was wondering if we could talk?"

Playing obtuse to what he meant, I replied, "We can talk now?"

He wasn't dissuaded. Instead he grinned and asked, "Wish me luck?"

"Good luck."

He rolled his eyes, smiling playfully. "Not with words, England."

Despite themselves, Tara and Sally began to titter at my side and I tried my best not to pinch them. They were supposed to be here to remind me to be rational. What use were they if they lost their minds too!

"Not with words?" I repeated. "How then?"

He leaned in close again, lowering his voice as he suggested, "A good luck kiss?"

"Not even in your dreams."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow, smirking down at me as he said innocently, "But in my dreams, we do a lot more than kiss."

My mouth dropped open, wondering how to respond to that. He chuckled at my obvious shock and leaned in to press a kiss to the corner of my mouth before I could do a thing. My gasp was instinctive and he laughed heartily in response, jogging away from me to join the rest of his team.

"See you after the game!" he called out as I retreated, pulling Tara and Sally with me.

"Like hell you will," I muttered under my breath.

"I know it's a potion," Tara started hesitantly, "but Merlin, even _I_ felt something then."

"Now you see why it's a problem?" I deadpanned as we headed to the stands to get some seats.

Our Cedric shaped delay meant that we had been unable to get our usual seats, something which Tara and Sally complained about right until the game actually began. But thankfully, once the game was underway they were silent and I actually let my mind forget about the potion issue for the duration of the game. Instead, I watched the way Cedric flew on his broom in chase of the snitch. He hovered about the pitch for a while, scanning the pitch for a moment.

And then, within the space of a few seconds, he dropped into a steep dive and Potter was on his tail. Cedric peeked over his shoulder, to see where Potter was and realising that the fifth year was gaining on him, he pressed himself flat against his broom to go faster. As he drew closer to the ground, I leaned forward in my seat, biting my bottom lip.

If this was another bloody wronski whatever it was called –

But it wasn't. Cedric's hand shot out and just like that the match was over. Even without looking to the score board I knew who won as the Hufflepuff stands erupted into cheers. My heart felt much lighter now that Cedric was flying normally once again to join his team for a small celebration and I settled back into my seat with a slight breath of relief.

The cheers died down suddenly as I turned to ask Sally what this meant for the Quidditch Cup when she shook her head to silence me. I furrowed my eyebrows, looking away when she gestured for me to face the front and instantly I wished I hadn't.

Flying in front of my seat with the snitch outstretched towards me was an eager looking Cedric. I made no move to accept the snitch, fisting my hands at my sides.

"I told you I'd see you after the game," he said with a smile, trying to break the tension.

"Cedric," I tried quietly, hearing the whispers filling the pitch.

He didn't respond and simply kept his eyes on mine. He held the snitch out for me, inching it closer towards me. I rose to my feet, unable to look away from his eyes. A smile bloomed on his face as I brought my hand up only for it to drop moments later when I used my hand to push my way through the still seated crowd.

I hurried through the stand, practically running back to the castle. Helga, I _really_ needed to find the solution to getting this potion to wear off. He'd already caused such a big scene, Merlin knows what else the man was capable of.

Now if only my heart would stop thundering in my chest so I could think about what I needed to do next.

* * *

Knowing the commotion that would be occupying the common room, I made a point not to return to it until I knew the afterparty would have finished. I spent the hours stuck in the corner of the library, researching with more fervour.

The snitch, he'd tried to give me the bloody snitch in front of _everyone._

And, as I knew it would, my research proved useless and I was growing even more desperate. But as I walked back to the common room I came to a decision; I'd have to speak to Snape after our lesson tomorrow. So, what if I ended up in detention or losing points or serving whatever other form of punishment he came up with? It was more important that I fixed Cedric.

When I stepped into the common room, it was almost empty like I knew it would be. Of course, there were a few people sitting in the common room, left to clean up the mess of the party or they had _become_ the mess of the party. I paid no attention to the eyes that had turned towards me, watching my journey through the common and towards the dorm and I _tried_ not to listen to the whispers but just hearing Cedric's name and they had my attention. And as I passed the sofas beside the fireplace I knew why they'd spoken his name.

He was sat on one of the sofas, head resting against the back of the sofa and I wondered briefly if he was waiting for me. Not wanting to stick around to find out, I tried to walk away from him but the movement caught his eye. He lifted his head, turning towards me and those grey eyes rooted me to my position.

Sitting up straight, he seemed to struggle for something to say and when he found nothing, he reached out to pat the space beside him. I hesitated, looking back towards the entrance of the dorms and then to the boy waiting patiently to see what I'd do. Helga, I'd managed to humiliate him in front of the whole school today. The least I could do was sit with him for a little while.

Clutching the book, I was holding tighter in my hands, I crossed the small distance between us and settled onto the sofa beside him. I sat tense, my back ramrod straight as I waited for him to say something. Merlin, I couldn't even look towards him. His hands reached out, snagging the book from my lap and I turned towards him to find him reading over its title. He bit his bottom lip, contemplating something and the action absolutely did _not_ lower my eyes to his lips.

He released a heavy sigh, relinquishing the book to me again. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead," I said quietly, watching as he lowered his eyes to his hands.

"Your love potion didn't work," he rushed out, making me furrow my eyebrows.

What did he mean it didn't work? On look at the way he was behaving and it was obvious that it worked!

"Of course it did." Crossing my arms, I relaxed into the sofa. This was going to be a _long_ conversation. Had he somehow managed to convince himself that the way he was behaving wasn't a result of the potion? Oh Merlin, the man had gone delusional! "Just look at the way you've been behaving."

I looked to him with wide eyes, trying to understand if his symptoms had progressed further. He waited again, wanting me to get out all I had to say. But what was I supposed to say when I'd become so convinced that there was something severely wrong with him?

"You've read that book countless times over the past few days," he said gently, pointing to the book lying innocently on my lap. "You know the reasons why a love potion won't work."

And I did know. Merlin, I could list the reasons from memory and I _thought_ I knew what he was trying to suggest. But, there was just simply no way. He'd never even hinted –

"The potion wasn't brewed properly," I tried weakly.

Cedric raised an eyebrow, " _You?_ Brewing a shoddy potion? I haven't seen you much up a single potion in seven years."

"You didn't happen to be conceived under a love potion, did you?"

He scoffed, amusement creeping into his features. "You're taking this _too_ far just because you want to ignore the obvious for a little longer."

"I just don't understand," I protested quietly, biting my bottom lip. "You never showed any sign that you –"

"Well, neither did you," he shot back and I stopped suddenly, realising he'd caught me. But how long had he known for?

"Truthfully," he confessed, "I always knew your potion wouldn't work on me so I decided to go along with it. Just, just to give me a chance to get close to you."

"Do you have any idea how _worried_ I've been over the past week?" I demanded, suddenly remembering just how long I'd spent stressing over the answer to this issue. And now I wasn't sure whether I wanted to kiss to stupid man or hex him.

"Sorry," he apologised without even a hint that he meant. He reached out to take my hand, running his fingertips gently over the back of it. "But now that everything's out in the open, we can stop all of this pretending that we don't know the other feels and just date already."

"Who says I want to date you?" I shot back, snatching my hand from him. "If you've managed to cause me this much stress in a week, I hate to think how stressful _dating_ you will be."

"Fine," he relented, crossing his arms and suddenly smirking. "If you don't want to date me then that's fine – marry me instead. We're both legal –"

My mouth dropped open in shock. " _Cedric!_ "

"See," he said through his chuckles. "You don't want to marry me just yet so it'll _have_ to be dating."

"Cedric –"

The stubborn man rose to his feet without listening to a word of what I had to say. "Well, I'm knackered so I should probably call it a night. Goodnight, love."

I resolutely didn't look at him. And it wasn't because I was blushing scarlet.

As he walked away from the sofa, I opened my book again and turned to the right page. I just needed to make sure –

 _– and perhaps the most uncommon reason for an ineffective love potion is that the potion was unnecessary in the first place. A love potion shall not work if the consumer is already in love with the brewer._


	2. Epilogue: 6 Years Later

_6 YEARS LATER_

One of the things that I'd never understood after being integrated into the wizarding world and discovering the existence of magic, was that there were no schools for wizarding children. Until the age of 11, when the children reached the age where they could attend Hogwarts, they were home-schooled and that had never sat right with me. There were so many things apart from knowledge that school taught you that just wouldn't be available for children to learn at home.

And upon leaving Hogwarts I had sought to remedy that by beginning the long process of setting up a ministry approved primary school to prepare the children for their eventual acceptance to Hogwarts. We accepted children from magical families and those that were muggleborn to ease the children's integration. Whilst the first two years had been slow, with very few wizarding families welcoming the change, from then on, our school was thriving.

The children were separated by age groups and taught by a teacher who handled the responsibilities for their year groups. Being muggleborn myself I was used to seeing classrooms filled with 30 plus children but there simply just weren't that many magical children in the UK. And yet, the small class sizes gave the children the chance to bond with each other. The children that left my school would remain friends, even if they were separated into different houses.

During the aftermath of the war I had gotten into touch with Mrs Longbottom who, rather surprising had become our headmistress, but she ran our school well. And me, well I oversaw the reception class. Year after year, I took in a group of four year olds and helped them learn the necessary skills they needed to move on through the years.

With another week coming to an end, the children were in high spirits as they ran through the room. Home time was drawing ever nearer and some of the children were growing maybe a little _too_ excited. But I couldn't blame them; students weren't the only ones that looked forward to the weekend.

I set about getting the little ones ready for the end of the day, making sure they were dressed in their coats and had all their things stuffed into their small school bags. Clapping my hands twice, I gained the attention of the children, who looked between me and the clock eagerly – as if they could tell the time yet.

"Now I know we've had a lot of fun today but remember to show your parents the letters about our school trip," I said as the children hurried to their seats, waiting for their parents to arrive. "If your parents don't sign the permission slip then you won't be able to come along to the quidditch pitch with us. And the team are _really_ looking forward to seeing you."

The children began to talk excitedly between themselves and I watched as the muggleborn children turned to the other children to ask what quidditch was. I couldn't help but smile; it took practically turning the ministry upside down to be given permission to allow these children into the school. But well, with war heroine Hermione Granger fighting for the cause, there was very little the ministry could do but stand back and watch. And Helga, when the girl eventually ran for Minister of Magic, she had my vote.

"Settle down," I said loudly, bringing silence to the room again. "You've got the weekend coming up so remember to be safe and have fun. I'll be here to welcome you all back on Monday morning. Why don't you talk between yourselves as we wait for your parents to come?"

The kids took the chance to talk, giggling madly between themselves. Just as I turned to check to see if any of the parents had arrived, a hand was stuck into the air.

"Teddy?" I asked, looking to the boy whose hair was once again shifting colours until it resembled the rainbow. Walking to his side, I crouched down beside him and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

He shook his head, gesturing behind me towards the open door of the classroom, "Your boyfriend's here."

My eyes widened in surprise and I glanced over my shoulder to, sure enough, find Cedric walking into the classroom. Honestly, he was here so often it was as if he didn't have any work to do himself. The children, upon seeing him, rose from their seats to clamber around him. Cedric laughed warmly, reaching out to pat the top of the head of the child closest to him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, standing on the edge of the circle formed around Cedric. "How did you get past reception? They're not supposed to let anyone in." I narrowed my eyes at him when he simply grinned innocently and crossed my arms with a huff. "You charmed the receptionist again, didn't you?"

"I missed you," he said simply, not bothering to deny my words. Poor Mrs Taylor never stood a chance whenever Cedric came around batting those grey eyes at her.

Slowly the children lost interest in Cedric, moving naturally away from him and returning to their seats. With the children distracted, he came to my side and nudged me with his shoulder.

"Did you miss me?" he asked.

"I've been too busy to miss you," I said, rolling my eyes before I noticed the line of parents standing outside the door. "You wouldn't mind cleaning the room up for me would you, whilst I let the children out?"

"I don't know," he hummed contemplatively, even as he began to tidy up the room with a wave of his wand. "What will you do for me?"

"I won't tell your mum how you've been lying about being busy with work for the last two Sundays and have instead been recovering from a killer hangover?" I suggested, watching his smirk drop.

"How were you a Hufflepuff?" he wondered aloud as I slowly began to give the children back to their parent's care.

"Even badgers have a bite," I reminded him, waving at little Elise Kapoor as she took her father's hand and walked away. "But how about this? I'll give you free reign over the wedding cake. I won't say a word, even if it ends up being yellow and black."

The room was already half clean when he agreed, "Done."

Slowly, one by one the children continued to stream out of the room to join their parent's sides. Just as I went to shut the door I noticed one little boy sat at his own table, busy colouring a picture as he waited for someone to pick him up. Cedric was sat at his side, talking quietly to him. I went to his other side, settling down into one of the miniature chairs.

"What are you drawing Teddy?" Cedric asked, handing the boy a black crayon and watching as he scribbled some hair onto the male figure who, guessing from the lightning bolt on his forehead, was Potter.

"My family," the boy said shortly, reaching for a green crayon.

"That's sweet," I said with a smile, brushing his hair away from his eyes. "So, who's supposed to be picking you up today? Your grandmother?"

He shook his head distractedly, "She's meeting her sister for the day."

I nodded, helping him colour in his own multi-coloured hair. "What about your aunt? Is she supposed to come today?"

"I don't think so." His tongue was stuck out as he concentrated. "It's not her turn today; it's Harry's turn."

"Your godfather?" Cedric questioned, gesturing for me to answer the door when there was a serious of rapid knocks on the door to the classroom.

Rising to my feet, I crossed the room and opened the door expecting to find a rather ragged looking Potter on the other side, thinking he had rushed over from work. Instead I was greeted by a Malfoy whose eyes were darting around the classroom behind me.

"I'm here to pick up the twerp," he announced.

"I don't think so Malfoy." I raised an eyebrow. "Last I heard it was Potter's turn."

"Look England," he sighed, "he's my cousin's kid. I'm not here to kidnap him."

"The rules are the rules Malfoy. What kind of teacher would I be if I just handed him over to you?"

Malfoy sighed roughly through his nose, reaching into his pocket to pull out a note. He handed it over to me and I opened it slowly, reading across it. My eyebrows rose as I took in its words and finally my eyes settled on Teddy's aunt's signature at the bottom.

"Potter –"

"Auror mission gone bad," Malfoy said shortly, walking into the room when I stepped aside to let him in. "He's in bad shape and I've been sent to keep the kid occupied for the day until his aunt can pick him up."

"Right, ok, let me just get Teddy –"

Without waiting for me, Malfoy brushed past me and walked up to Teddy. The boy's face lit up at the sight of the tall blond and he instantly rose from his seat to wrap his legs in a hug. Malfoy reached down to pick Teddy up, shifting him into one arm as he grabbed his bag with the other.

"You're coming back to mine for the day, pipsqueak," Malfoy said as the pair began to leave the room.

"Harry?" Teddy asked, waving at me from over Malfoy's shoulder.

"He's off saving the world, remember?" Malfoy said without the sneer that he'd have had in school. Instead he sounded very solemn – something was clearly _very_ wrong with Potter. "Harry the Hero, remember?"

"Harry the Hero," Teddy agreed as they stepped outside of the classroom and I shut the door behind them.

"Where's Harry?" Cedric questioned, coming to my side. "Wasn't he supposed to pick Teddy up?"

"Auror mission gone wrong," I muttered gently, sharing a brief look of concern with Cedric.

"Why don't you get ready to go home?" Cedric suggested, "And I'll just put the wards up."

"Thanks," I said noticing that Teddy had forgotten to take his picture with him. "Just give me a second."

Walking to the previously occupied desk, I studied the picture with a small smile. Teddy had drawn his whole family; extended and blood related. And, looking closely I noticed that with one hand his aunt was holding Teddy's hand and with the other she was holding Potter's.

With a smile, I picked the picture up and placed it in Teddy's drawer. It would be waiting for him on Monday morning.

"Ready to go home?" Cedric asked from behind me.

I turned to him with a smile, walking to his side. "Yeah, let's go home."


End file.
